"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion & the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) A daily devotional especially intended to offer compassion to other challenged parents of kids with special needs. Visit our home page at www.snappin.org!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Freedom to Thrive

Photo Courtesy of Tammie Hefty (2014)

No one
can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other,
or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24 NIV

Tomorrow, America celebrates her independence. For some reason, I'm ultra-excited for the Fourth of July this year, and I think it's because of our recent move out west. We live among the mountains now, and I can't wait to see fireworks with the mountains as their backdrop. But, I also want to immerse myself in FREEDOM...I feel as though this move from the Midwest to the West has a type of "freedom cry" to it. Thankfully, our new adventure also has a theme song. Casting Crowns released it this spring, "Thrive"...here's a small sample of the song that keeps me whooping and hollering in the car whenever we hear it on K-LOVE:

Here in this worn and weary land
Where many a dream has died

Like a tree planted by the water
We never will run dry

So living water flowing through
God we thirst for more of You
Fill our hearts and flood our souls
With one desire

Just to know You and to make You known
We lift Your name on High
Shine like the sun made darkness run and hide
We know we were made for so much more
Than ordinary lives
It's time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive

So, what is my point? Where am I going? What does Matthew 6:24 have to do with the Fourth of July, with us moving to Nevada, with THRIVING?

Our move to Nevada demonstrates to us and to all of you now reading this exactly what Matthew 6:24 says. While Jesus said that a person could not serve God and money, he was saying "You cannot serve God and sin." And guess what? Anything that we do out of FEAR is SIN.

If we had stayed in Wisconsin, the only reason we would have stayed would have been fear.

Fear that we wouldn't find good doctors in Nevada.

Fear that Evie wouldn't make new friends.

Fear that something would happen to our cats on the trip out.

Fear that we wouldn't sell out house.

Fear that something would happen to our family in Minnesota or Wisconsin and we wouldn't be able to be with them.

FEAR, FEAR, FEAR...

Photo Courtesy of Tammie Hefty (2014)

But God did not intend for us to be fearful of life; He is here to show us His power and sovereignty. If we make choices to do or not do something out of fear, we are saying to God, "You're just not big enough. You're just not powerful enough." And that is sin...

God is here with us in Nevada just as He was in Wisconsin...and He has broken the shackles that chained us to fear.

One of the definitions of freedom is "boldness of conception or execution". Can I get an AMEN? Can we be so bold as to jump when God says to jump because we are free from fear of ANYTHING else? We are free to thrive. We were made to thrive. Pray: Father God, thank you for the freedom that you have given me. Freedom to CHOOSE you. Freedom to LOVE you. You have broken my bondage to sin, and you have given me true freedom. Thank you for taking away my fears and giving me the desire to thrive. Amen.

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All content at Comfort In The Midst of Chaos is the exclusive expression of SNAPPIN' MINISTRIES, INC and does not necessarily represent the views, opinions or positions of any affiliated partner, church or sponsor.